One of Mathew Curran’s stencils, located off Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC

Two weeks ago the Indy ran an article about tension between an elderly black couple in Raleigh, who have apparently allowed loud, disruptive and potentially criminal activities to occur on their property, and their mostly white neighbors, who have repeatedly complained to the authorities. Central to that story was the image of a stencil, spray-painted throughout the neighborhood, depicting a person with a wide-open mouth and a wiry patterned background. The elderly couple and their family believed the stencil to be a hate target, and the artist, Mathew Curran, was called in to the Raleigh police department for questioning. He said that the image was actually based on a picture of his brother laughing.

I spoke with Mathew this week to learn more about his artwork and the controversy over his recent stencil.

Q: How do you make your stencils?

A: I have different models, some are myself and my brothers. I distort the faces: first I shoot the photo (using a standard digital camera with a video fisheye lens taped to it), and then draw from the photo using a thick graffiti marker or shoe polish pens. I freestyle the lines; it really breaks up the face a lot. Sometimes it looks kind of scary because the lines are jagged.

Most of them are black and drippy. I’ve been working on ‘prettier’ images, but even they look distressed. I like to keep the drips, it’s the influence of street art. Keeping the drips is pretty important.

Q: How did you get involved in graffiti?

A: At the end of middle school I started skateboarding, and graffiti came out of that. In high school I did a lot of art. And in college [at UNC--Greensboro] I was exposed to graffiti through the people I lived with and the people in my classes.

Graffiti was always an element I worked with. Then I started doing stencils, which have a clean-cut, graphic design feel. I felt it should tie back into the graffiti style, so I started adding the drips and using graffiti markers.

I don’t do so much on the street anymore. I build canvases, travel around and do a lot of gallery shows. The one time something was put up on the street, it got into the paper and there was misinterpretation.

Q: I read that you were taken into the Raleigh police headquarters.

A: After the News & Observer article, I thought everything was clear. But then the Raleigh police called. They spoke with my family first. Then I was called in to the Threat Assessment Unit.

Q: To see if you were a threat to the family?

Yes. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was painted 13 times, and 13 people live in that house. There were nine on one sign, for Shaw University in Boylan Heights, and four on the other, a school crossing sign. (They’re all gone now.) There were nine children that lived in the house and four adults, and the family thought it symbolized one for each person.

This was two days before my art show.

Q: What was it like to have people think that about your stencil?

I never wanted anything negative to come out of my artwork. I hate that anyone would interpret it that way.

It didn’t have meaning. I like emotional expressions and let people read into it how they want. My artwork is about capturing movement; I did studies of line movement in college.

Q: What is the typical fine for getting caught doing graffiti?

Around $3000, and some community service, basically cleaning up your graffiti.

People have been moving towards showing their art in the galleries. A lot of my friends, we’re in our early 30s and mid-to-late 20s, and we don’t want to lose money anymore, we want to make money with our art. We want to do something positive for the community.

The city wants artists to paint buildings before they get torn down, and become an eyesore. There’s a building downtown that I just spoke with the city about recently. We want it to have a graphic feel, paint it with bright, fun colors that make you happy.

Q: Are there any artists who influence you?

Dave Kinsey, who is a street artist and also does figurative gallery work. Shepard Fairey, a lot of people think he’s a sellout but he’s done some amazing projects. Faile is an artistic collective in New York, they have a vintage graphic design style that’s very colorful, and they do some wheatpaste as well. I’m also inspired by a lot of the young artists that are out now.

Part of a mural by Parail Studios, Mathew’s company, located in front of the NC Museum of Art box office.